Garden Update - August 7, 2014

3 Sisters bed - it's full.

Ears of corn are filling out nicely

This use to be a 5 foot wide row of empty space

We have at least 2 Jack O' Lanterns on vine

Butternut squash just getting going

Buen Gusto de Horno squash.  I wanted at least one of the really ugly, bumpy looking ones.

Long pie pumpkin living up to it's name....this thing is about 20" long already.

It's a madhouse in there!  Been harvesting Pole beans as well.

Filius Blue peppers - disregarding their name.

The 'ol rubber snake in the apple tree trick seems to be working well so far to keep the squirrels at bay.  Some of them are plumping right up and are even edible now - the apples, not the squirrels.  Well, for me at least....still a bit tart for Kaya's taste.

Thought the Kale and Collards had just about run their course, I had harvested most of the leaves.  But just a few weeks later, we're ready for another round of harvest.  Been snacking on the carrots in the back, they are slowly coming along.  I just replanted the front of this bed with beets, parsnip, spinach and more carrots for a late fall harvest.

Nothing like last year, but I should get a decent tomato haul.  Some of them are getting pretty loaded.  No red yet, but still another 2 months of growing season around these parts.

Sunflowers in the back are pushing above 8' but have yet to flower.  Trellised cukes are still producing in mass quantities.  Melons in the front are taking over this part of the yard.

Girls helped me pick cukes last weekend in the blazing sun.  I have already put up 15 quarts of dill and bread n' butter's.  This batch filled the 2 gallon crock and will be fermented into deli dills. 

One of the Texas Golden watermelon.

Ali Baba Watermelon - just a tad bigger than a football right now.

Remainder of the onions.  Most had fallen over and then I knocked down the rest to finish their in-ground cure.  Pulled them a couple weeks after that.  They are currently laying in the sun to finish their outdoor cure.  I'm going to use this space for the broccoli and brussels sprouts seedlings that I've been hardening off.

Couple of Minnesota Midget melons.  I pulled one the other day to see if it was ready.  Nice orange flesh on the inside, but it was still lacking the sweetness.  I'll try again in a week or so.  There must be 30+ of them in the patch!

The "other" melon patch.

Tigger melon

Takoda can't get enough of the apples.  If there are none on the ground he'll even steal one right off a low hanging branch.  There is however an unwelcome side effect - they give him stinky toots.  Oh well, blaming it on the dog is nothing new around here...

Randomness from the past week

We've been eating like kings around here!  In addition to what's below, the zucchini is coming in and getting all grilled up now as well.  Kaya liked it the first time she tried it (the Black Beauty), but not so much the second time (the Grey zucchini).  She has a very sensitive palette and said the Grey tasted too zucchini-i.

I've prepared the turnips like mashed potatoes and roasted them - both quite good.

Just the tip of the iceberg.  I've already put up 5 jars of refrigerator pickles and they're just getting started.  Note to self...grow more dill next year (and possibly less cukes).

I dug up a test hill last night and found these beauties!  1 plant = 1 pound of taters.  It was the perfect amount for dinner.  The girls wanted seconds so they ended up eating all 4 of the big ones and I scarfed up the rest.  The flesh had an almost creamy consistency and the skins so delicate that both girls ate the whole thing.

We also spent some time at the Dragon Boat Festival and enjoyed some delicious Asian food.  Well, Kassie had a hotdog, but Kaya and I enjoyed some delicious Asian food.  Kaya finally had enough of the rainbow and butterfly face painting and opted for the half skull this time.  She loved it but at the same time was afraid that she was going to scare people too much.

I set up a tight rope in the backyard using my old Harley tie down straps. 

It actually worked pretty well.

Welcome to the Nursery

There are babies poppin' out everywhere!

A wee little Howden Pumpkin

Hubbard Squash - I think this baby is the equivalent of a 9 lb human newborn

Black Beauty Zucchini - hope to be grilling this up in about a week

Long Pie Pumpkin

Gray Zucchini - looking pale green

Buen Gusto de Horno Squash - the plant is huge so i'm guessing these might get quite large

Vines are starting to overtake the space in between rows

I'm trying to direct the vines somewhat so they don't end up in the yard.  Spacing could get a little tricky.

He just loves watching veggies grow!
Ok, it's his usual psychotic staring at the ball waiting for me to throw it.

Over in the melon patch - itty bitty Tigger melons

Baby and Mama.
Mama was the first and only ripe for the pickin' so she became a delicious snack about a minute later.

Minnesota Midget melon

Cukes are starting to go nuts and the Watermelon are venturing out and over the front of the bed.
Haven't spotted any Watermelon babies yet.

Garden Update - July 2, 2014

First part of the garlic harvest.  Duganski in the middle and Susanville on the left.   And my first 2 turnips!

The remainder of the Susanville.  I ended up with a little over 50 heads!

The 3 sisters bed

If the potatoes are doing as well underground as they are above, I'm in for a terrific harvest.

Howden pumpkins

Gray Zucchini.  So far the leaves are gray, not exactly what I was expecting...we'll see what the fruit look like.

The pole beans are doing their thang with the corn.

Roses and Peas.  Peas and Roses.

Kale, Collards and Carrots.  As you can see, I've been harvesting and quite enjoying the Kale and Collards.

From back to front... Sunflowers, Boston and Muncher Cukes, Tigger Melons and Ali Baba Watermelons

Oh yeah, baby!  Won't be long now!  Hopefully before the crush of Cucumber beetles takes over.  I've been out plucking them off by hand (the beetles) every evening and so far there has been minimal damage.  But the babies don't hatch for another few weeks.

Cukes. Climbing.

Onions, Minnesota Midget melons and Texas Gold Watermelon

Onions are taking shape nicely!

I'm so proud of these guys...wasn't sure they were even going to make it for a while there.

Tomatoes...mostly Roma and Amish Paste.  The row closest to the fence are the slicers but they have not been doing much.  I guess that 30 minutes less of sunlight has really set them back.  Hoping for a growth spurt!